Standing alongside 'George & Tammy': How the cast and crew captured the songs and spirit of George Jones and Tammy Wynette

First and foremost, the "George & Tammy" limited series of was tasked with doing two things well: relationship and records. Cut any creative corners on the music or portrayal of the wedding, and the show could have been humiliated by all of Nashville and the country-loving world at large. So far, the series has received a lot of love and credit for standing up for the truth of George Jones and Tammy Wynette from those who know either the story it describes or the inner workings of it. classic solo and duo recordings that are recreated… in their entirety, and not crammed into medleys or montages, it's worth noting.

Variety spoke with writer and series creator Abe Sylvia, music producer Rachael Moore, source memoir writer Georgette Jones and cast members Jessica Chastain, Michael Shannon, Kelly McCormack and Pat Healy on their efforts to create a series that an attentive audience of die-hard fans as well that newbies wouldn't stop loving today, or anytime before the six-episode series wraps up in January.

Sylvia worked on "George & Tammy" for many years as a theatrical script before it only becomes a television project instead. He thinks he's found a way to break the story into a shorter form as a much shorter movie, but is still grateful it ended up in Showtime's lap as a quieter drama instead - with the possibility of packing more music by being a substantial reason for his gratitude.

"I was very happy with the script of the film, but at the same time I was still trying to pour one for all the things I couldn't get into there," says Sylvia, who wrote "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" for Chastain's previous project. "I really like those scripts, but they were abbreviated and truncated. And what's happening on TV is so exciting, and it's really become the place where you can tell adult stories about serious relationship stories, with the breadth and detail they deserve. And we were able to fit 41 songs into the show and play them from start to finish. So you really brought that music to life for people as one of the driving forces of our storytelling.

"Their personal story was told through their music," Sylvia continues. "You know, you can name any of the tempting moments in Georgia and Tammy's love story and there's a song that was tailor-made for that moment. Tammy says you have to live a song to be good, and that was certainly true for them. I think that's why their fans felt so close to them. They lived their truth out loud for their audience. And that was a great gift that cost them dearly, but that's, I guess, kind of what happens to artists."

Nashville studio veteran Rachael Moore has taken over as music producer on the set and in post-production, after her mentor T Bone Burnett brought her in as she worked on pre-recordings early in the process. Moore recalls a key moment of restraint, from leading man Shannon.

"There was one in particular that Michael didn't want Jessica to hear him sing that song until they were filming, because he wanted his reaction to be real. And that's what's really happening in that scene," Moore says - this song being the number that many consider to be the greatest song. country of all time, 'He stopped loving her today'. "It's real. I think she really cried, and it was very believable and really cool because you could feel the chemistry between them on set. That's in a later episode, and you're going to be blown away when you see it."

Verisimilitude was essential in many ways with music, but not when it came to try to duplicate the exact voice styles and scales. "Having two people trying to sound like Mr. and Mrs. Country Music, two of the most iconic voices of all time, would risk becoming a hokey, corny imitation or parody, almost," Moore says. "In order to appeal to people and make it believable, it was more important that they put a bit of themselves into this character, in the singing voice, so that you connected with them and felt the emotion that they were so good at ferrying. I mean, there are definitely times when they both ring l...